Water jet propelled nozzle head



April 1960 c. B. FLETCHER WATER JET PROPELLED NOZZLE HEAD Filed May 23, 1958 .WATER JET PROPELLED NOZZLE HEAD Clarence B. Pletcher, Buchanan, Mich. Application May 23, 1958, Serial No. 737,38 3 Claims. c1. -10442 This invention generally relates to new and novel improvements in nozzle heads for apparatus for cleaning pipes, conduits and similar elongated hollow bodies and tion is formed with an annular series of'jet ports that extend substantially tangentially from a bore in thein ner section, the bore receiving an end of a flexible fluid conveying hose. Because of the relationship of the ports and the vanes, water or. similar fluidconveyed by the hose is caused to impingeon the vanes and rotate the outer section around the inner section which is held against rotation by the hose. The reaction of the water issuing in jets from the ports andimpinging on the vanes produces a rotation of the outer section and the jets being backwardly and spirally directed cause the nozzle head to be moved forwardly in the bore of a plpe.

The inner section has a reduced extension on its forward end on which a bearing sleeve is fitted to provide the contact between the inner and outer sections.

While such patented construction has been found to be extremely eflective and practical in cutting through debris and forcing it out of a pipe and in cleaning the pipe, I have discovered that the nozzle head can operate more efi'iciently with less power and can be made at less cost to last longer because of the improvements of the present invention.

In accordance with the present invention the inner section, rearwardly of a reduced extension which projects into the outer section, is of substantially the same diameter as the outer section, whereby a shoulder is formed closely adjacent the inner end of the rotating outer section and the rear exit of the vanes, thus providing a restricted fluid exit, the vanes being provided With slots which extend radially through the outside wall of the outer section, the shoulder thus serving to force the major quantity of fluid outwardly radially through these slots, thus increasing the radial force extended on and through the vanes from a given quantity of fluid.

Additionally the instant invention permits the omission of the nylon bearing of my patented device, the present construction being designed to provide a fluid cushion between the outer section and the reduced extension of the inner section, there being thus substantially no metat to metal contact during operation of the device.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention the vanes and their associated slots are aligned with the axis of rotation of the outer section, but in a modified form of the invention the vanes may be angled relative to such aXlS.

nite dtatespatent Thus the primary objects of the present invention are to provide an improved jet and vane assembly whereby an increased drive with less power may be realized and Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along the center line of the structure of Figll.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Fig. l as viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line 44 of Fig. 2 as viewed in the direc-- tion indicated by the arrows. I

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view of a slightly modified form of construction taken substantially along the line 5-5 of Fig. 6 as viewed in the direction of the arrows, and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 55 of Fig; 6 as viewed in the direction of themrows.

ed to receive one end of a flexible hose 20 or similar supplying means for a fluid, such as water under pressure.

The forward end of the bore 22 in the body portionis internally threaded to receive-a plug 24 which has a reduced axial jet passage 25 that is aligned with the center of the bore. The plug has a flange 28 formed on its outer end and the flange serves, as will be described, to retain the sections in rotatable assembled relation.

The outer or forward section 12 is cylindrical and is composed of two threaded cylindrical portions 30 and 32. The portion 32 is internally threaded, as at 34, and terminates, at its forward end, in a conical noze portion 36. The nose portion 36 is formed with spirally arranged cutters 38 and has a centrally disposed, axial jet passage 40 which is aligned with the jet passage 26 in the plug 24.

The portions 30 and 32 are of similar external diameter and the portion 38 has a reduced, externally threaded forward end 42 which is threaded into the portion 32. The portion 30 has an axial bore 44 within which the cylindrical body portion 16 is freely fitted, the wall of the portion 16 being out of contact with the wall of the bore 44 when the sections 12 and 14 are relatively rotating due to the arrangement of jet ports 46 in the body portion 16 and vanes 48 which extend longitudinally of the portion 30.

The jet ports 46 are formed in, at least, two longitudinally spaced, annular series in the body portion 16 and extend tangentially from the bore 22, as shown in Fig. 4. The ports 46 extend radially of portion 16 and are directed into the vanes 48. Vanes 48 are provided with radial slots 49 extending through the outside of portion 30, the slots being reduced in width relative to the vanes.

The enlarged portion 13 forms with reduced portion 16 a shoulder 17 closely adjacent the rear end of sec- Patented Apr. 19,

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, thenozzle head 10 includes a forward or outer section 12 tion 30, which serves as .a partial closure to the ends of vanes 48,, whereby the major portion of fluid flow is directed radially outwardly through the slots 49.

The plug 24 is formed in its rearward end with a conical ,counterbore 50 that faces the bore 22. The flange 28 abuts the *outer end 42 of the portion 30 to axially locate the inner section in the outer section.

In assembling the nozzle head, the forward end of the body portion 16 is passedlthrough the bore 44 in the portion 30 of the section .12 and the plug 24 is threaded in place. The nose portion is then threaded onto the portion 30.

The modification of Figs. and 6 is in all respects similar, to that of the previously described modification, with the exception of the fact that the vanes 48a are arranged spirally about the rear periphery of a section 30a otherwise identical to section 3i). Slots 49a corresponding to :slots 49 are obviously similarly spirally arranged.

In use, the outer section 12 rotates about the body portion 16, but is held out of friction creating contact therewith by a fluid bearing formed by the jets of water, issuing from the jet ports 46, and impinging against the vanes 48; The placement of the vanes 48, slots 49 and the specific structural placement of the jet ports 46 and the shoulder 17 ensures an impingementof the water against the vanes on a square basis. Because the jet streams strike the vanes on a square basis, as shown clearly in Fig. 4, that is, because the jet ports lie perpendicular to the vanes, considerably more power is developed from the jet streams.

While the best known form of my invention has been disclosed and shown herein, other forms may be realized as come within the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. For use with an apparatus in cleaning pipes, a

nozzle head of a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of a pipe to be cleaned; said nozzle head comprising a forward, outer cylindrical section having an axial bore and having an open end portion and an opposing conical nose end, said nose end having spirally arranged cutters formed thereon and having a centrally disposed, axial jet passage formed therethrough in alignment with the center of the bore, said cylindrical sec v tion having formed vanes provided on the wall of its bore at the open end portion, reduced slots extending from said vanes through the outer wall of said outer section, and said nozzle head further comprising an inner rearward cylindrical section having an axial bore, and an extended portion forming a shoulder adjacent the rear end of said forward section, said extended portion having a bore aligned with said axial bore in said inner rearward section, means fitting saidextended portion in the bore of the forward section and axially locating it relative to the forward section which 'is rotatable around the rearward section, said extended portion having an annular series of jet ports formed therein and extending substantially tangentially from the bore in fluid impinging relationship with the vanes, fluid from said jet ports penetrating between said extended portion and said outer cylindrical portion to form a water lubricated bearing for said outer cylindrical portion and hence said nose end.

2. .A nozzle head as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means fitting the extended portion of the rearward ;sec-

tion in the, bore of the forward section includes a threaded fitting threaded in the forward end of the bore of the rearward section and having an annular flange abutting an internal abutment on the forward section, said fitting having an axial, centrally disposed jet passage.

3. A nozzle head as claimed in claim 2, wherein said forward section is composed of two end to end threaded parts, one of said parts having an end shoulder defining the abutment, and said forward section. is spaced from the extended portion of said .inner rearward cylindrical section to provide a space into which fluid may enter to provide a fluid bearing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS France Dec. 15, 1-923 

